1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fishing reels and, more particularly, to structure for consistently paying out a preselected length of line from a reel.
2. Background Art
Frequently, anglers will catch one fish in a school but be unable to return the bait to the same depth to attract the same school.
To obviate this problem, line memory structure has been incorporated into fishing reels to permit consistent payout of a preselected amount of line. Such structures commonly take the form of an elongate pin, which can be operatively situated to bridge spaced flanges on a line-carrying spool once a desired depth of line has been paid out. Retrieval of the line with the pin in operative position causes the retrieved line to wind against the pin. If the line is thereafter released, only that portion of the line wound against the pin will pay out so that the bait will be consistently returned to the desired depth. Exemplary prior art structures are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,730,455 and 3,958,770, both to Joseph C. Murphy.
It is also known to deflect the pin from its operative position with a predetermined tension applied to the line, as when the bait is snagged or a fish is hooked. Retraction of the pin permits the reel to be operated in normal fashion.
As a rule, the prior art line memory devices have been relatively complicated from a construction standpoint and in the case of spinning style reels, difficult to operate.